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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

As Far as the East From the West

The one thing I’d promised God I wouldn’t do. I had great
intentions, but my follow-through record was less than stellar. I hated to go
to my heavenly Father once more and confess the same old thing.

I know, in my head, that God promises to always forgive us
when we sin. All we have to do is ask. I know the scriptures that promise again
and again that’s He’s gracious and filled with mercy. But I couldn’t help be
worry that my continual stumbling in this one area might strain even His
patience.

Before I started my prayer time, I opened my Bible. I always
try to be on a reading plan, because it keeps me on track. But today I just
flipped through the pages, more to avoid the prayer of forgiveness needed to be
said, than to really find an answer.

But answer He did, in Psalm 103:12. He has taken our
sins away from us as far as the east is from west.

As I
stared at the verse, I felt the beginning of peace. I was able to continue with
my prayer time and move forward. But in the back of my mind, that verse
lingered. It seemed like an odd verse, using two compass points. I wondered why
those two? Why not north from south?

I
discovered the answer, and it’s intimately tied to the physical world that God
created for us.

When a
person is standing near the North Pole and walks north, the instant they hit
the very most northern tip of the earth and take one more step, they are now
traveling south.

BUT when
a person begins at a point on our earth and begins walking east, even if they
circumvent the entire globe, they are always walking east. To walk west, they
must turn around and begin walking in the opposite direction.

God is
like walking east. He is always true to His word and never reverses Himself or
turns around and goes the opposite direction. We know He’s trustworthy and we
can trust Him not to remember our sins.

This insight
has given me so much peace. I hate to stumble again and again over the same
thing. But I no longer fear going to God, confessing and asking forgiveness.

How
about you? How have you found peace in God’s willingness to forgive over and
over again? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.